ADULT INATTENTION PLACES KIDS AT RISK
Especially in summer, leaving children unattended in cars can result in tragedy.
Warren Brown, Washington Post

The numbers are small. The grief isn't -- not when it stems from the preventable deaths of children.

At least 30 children died last summer simply because they were left alone in cars.

An estimated eight more children died under similar circumstances this year.

Those are relatively small numbers when compared with the nearly 40,000 people who die annually in traffic accidents.

But when is a child simply a number?

Those little people had names and families. Many of them were four years old, or younger. Most perished in June or July, or on other warm days, locked inside of hot, airless cars.

The victims, according to research done by the Washington-based Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, included Martin Medina, 4, who died May 24 of this year while playing inside a closed car in Phoenix, Ariz.

There was Jack Hayes, 13 months, who perished the same day as the Medina chilld, while left sleeping inside a closed vehicle in Newton, N.J. And there was Benjamin Shelton, nine months, who died a day after Medina and Hayes, while left unattended in a closed car in York County, Va.

Today, there is a growing fear among advocates for child and auto safety that these needless deaths will increase as both temperatures and adult inattention rise in the coming summer months.

"These tragedies sharply illustrate that adults don't understand how severely and quickly heat affects children," said Heather Paul, executive director of the U.S. National Safe Kids Campaign.

"All adults must understand that any unlocked car can become a deadly playground for small children," Paul said.

The reason is quite simple. A small child might have the strength to open the door of an unlocked vehicle. But once inside, if that door closes on a hot day, the child quickly is overcome by heat and is rendered incapable of opening he door to escape. Not to mention that most young children have no idea how to operate internal door latches.

A case in point: On July 17, 1999, in North Carolina, a three-year-old boy climbed into a hot, empty car, buckled himself into his car seat and died in the extreme heat. Each of his grief-stricken parents thought he was in the care of the other parent. In other cases, parents mistakenly thought that the car would be a safe haven for their unattended young. So, here are some basic guidelines, culled from National Safe Kids and other safety groups, to help prevent future kids-in-cars deaths:

• Never leave a child alone in a car or truck, not under any circumstances, not in any weather.
• Do not be fooled into thinking that opening the windows slightly will provide needed ventilation for small children on a summer day. Heat rises quickly in a completely closed or semi-closed vehicle. Heat affects small chldren more quickly than adults.
• Always lock unattended vehicles. Discourage small children from playing in or near parked vehicles.
• Keep car keys out of reach of children, especially remote control key fobs. Children are delighted by the "magic" of pressing a button to unlock a door.
• Keep in mind that many remote control key fobs also have automatic trunk release buttons. These are especially dangerous in the wrong hands. A number of children have suffocated after climbing into a trunk and then closing the lid.
• Most important, know where your children are. Don't assume. It could turn out to be a tragically wrong guess.

On a related point, for parents and caretakers hitting the road this summer, it is wise to check with your local police, fire officials, or auto dealerships for information on the proper installation of child safety seats.

Remember, those seats should be installed in the rear seats of most vehicles. But there is no need to guess about this, either. For example, DaimlerChrysler AG has been running an award-winning instructional program on child safety seats.